June 19, 2013

In my mind, I have a picture of the Acropolis Museum celebrating its birthday – perhaps in a big party to which all the other museums are invited. Each year, it excitedly waits in hope of a giant cake in the shape of the Elgin Marbles – but it never arrives & it is left to celebrate on its own, hoping that the next year will be better.

Don’t get me wrong – it is still an amazing museum & should be on the itinerary of any visitor to Athens. But, to jump back to the previous analogy, if it was a cake, it would only have half the icing on – there are patches everywhere with no icing, and everyone wonders when these bits will be finished.

The Acropolis Museum opened its gates when the great economic crisis started affecting Greece. But it had the luck to be embraced by the Greek and international public, giving it the chance to operate for four years without public subsidy.

The Acropolis Museum celebrates its fourth birthday with optimism for the future. On Thursday, June 20, the exhibition venue and the restaurant will remain open from 8am to midnight, while admission will be reduced to three euros for everyone.
Visitors to the museum will have the opportunity to discover along with the museum’s archaeology – carers, the hidden stories of the surviving blocks of the frieze with three-dimensional presentations on specific screens that will be placed in the Parthenon Gallery.

On the same evening, at 9 p.m., the Philharmonic Wind Orchestra of Athens will take visitors in the courtyard on a musical tour with beloved melodies from the world repertoire.

Furthermore, the Museum will launch in its shops two commemorative copies of sculptures, the head of Poseidon and the head of Artemis from the east frieze of the Parthenon.

Leave a Comment

We want to hear your views. Be as critical or controversial as you like, but please don't get personal or offensive. Remember this is for feedback and constructive discussion!Comments may be edited or removed if they do not meet these guidelines. Repeat offenders will be blocked from posting further comments. Any comment deemed libellous by Elginism's editors will be removed.The commenting system uses some automatic spam detection and occasionally comments do not appear instantly - please do not repost comments if they do not show up straight away